1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of chillers for chilling poultry carcasses in a tank of cold liquid, and, more particularly, to loading devices for feeding poultry carcasses into an end of the chiller.
2. Background Art
In the processing of poultry carcasses, it is important after evisceration has taken place that the carcasses be rapidly cooled from body temperature to approximately 40.degree. F. to meet government regulations regarding the processing of poultry. Continuous chillers heretofore manufactured and sold by the assignee of the present invention employ a tank in which poultry carcasses are moved countercurrent to a body of chilling liquid. Such chillers include a conveyor system having a series of spaced apart rakes which drag the carcasses from the downstream loading end of the tank to the upstream discharge end of the tank. Each rake, during its path of travel, swings arcuately down into the loading end of the tank to a vertical position at which point warm poultry carcasses are loaded from the side of the tank in front of the rake. The rake then moves down to the discharge end of the tank, dragging the carcasses therewith. The conveyor then lifts the rake out of the tank and returns it to the loading end of the tank. Each rake follows a substantially identical path, thereby providing a continuous movement of carcasses through the chilling liquid.
Side loading has been the preferred loading technique in conventional chillers primarily because past attempts at loading of the carcasses into an end of the tank at a location where the dragging rake is not vertical has resulted in damage to the carcasses. Carcass damage is usually due to pinching of the carcasses between the rakes and an inclined partition at the end of the tank as the rakes initially swing down into the tank.
Although side loaders have avoided the pinching problem by loading the birds in front of the corresponding dragging rake only after the rake has left the inclined partition and turned vertical, side loaders have had several shortcomings of their own, including inefficient use of the length of the chilling tank. Since side loaders load after the rake has swung into its vertical position, the carcasses are not loaded until the rakes have moved through a substantial portion of the tank, thereby resulting in the full length of the tank not being used during the chilling process. Furthermore, loading from the side sometimes tends to dump all the carcasses into a concentrated area adjacent the side of the tank, instead of distributing them evenly across the tank and throughout the liquid. This can result in inefficient chilling of the carcasses.